Updating the Bundy brothers

Orioles minor league pitcher Bobby Bundy is expected to have surgery Thursday to remove bone spurs from his right elbow. The procedure will keep him out for the rest of the season.

The procedure will be performed by a doctor based near Little Rock, Ark., who has dealt with the Bundy brothers before and has the approval of Orioles doctors.

The older brother of Dylan Bundy, the Orioles’ top pitching prospect, Bobby Bundy had given up 15 runs in just 3 2/3 innings in his last two starts for Double-A Bowie, on July 3 and 8. He is 2-11 with an ERA of 6.25 on the year over 17 Baysox starts.

The 22-year-old Bundy was drafted by the Orioles in the eighth round in 2008. He went 11-5 with a 2.75 ERA for Single-A Frederick last year, was the organization’s Pitcher of the Month for both May and July and made the mid-season Carolina League All-Star team. He went 1-3 with a 9.60 ERA in five games late in the year at Bowie.

Meanwhile, when Dylan Bundy takes the mound tomorrow night for Single-A Frederick at Wilmington, the 19-year-old right-hander that Baseball America rates as the current best prospect in baseball will be allowed to pitch longer than five innings for the first time as a pro.

Bundy’s pitch limit will be something just shy of 100 and he can pitch into the sixth or seventh inning for the first time this season. Bundy is 4-3 with a 2.98 ERA in nine Keys starts after making eight starts for Single-A Delmarva.

Bundy should have about seven to eight starts remaining and about 50-55 innings left before he reaches his season limit of around 125 innings. Thursday begins the final phase of the year for Bundy where the Orioles turn him loose a bit and let him get as deep into the games as he can while still holding to a per-game pitch limit.

Bundy was the subject of a fascinating piece last night on a show called “Sports Illustrated,” a sports magazine show that debuted on the NBC Sports Network.

During the piece, writer and host of the segment Tom Verducci pointed out that since the first amateur draft was held in 1965, the Orioles have drafted 458 pitchers out of high school and that none of them ever won 15 games in any season for the Orioles.

Bundy will now try to buck that trend and prove he is every bit as good as the experts say he is.

Verducci ended the piece saying:

“Dylan Bundy has all the ingredients to fascinate, no matter how this story turns out. Deep down we understand what the failure rate is of these so-called next big things, especially when they come this quickly.

“Watching him pitch, there is a fascination that, how can someone this young be this good? And you hope that he is, but always understand that the possibility is there that he won’t be.”

It was a very interesting segment that highlighted Bundy’s background, his work ethic and his talent while also pointing out that many high school pitchers don’t make it.

If you missed the piece, according to the TV listings, it will air on the network this morning at 10:30 a.m.

If you had a chance to see the show, what did you think about the segment on Bundy? What are your thoughts on Bundy’s first season with the Orioles and how they have handled him?